Jack's a Nerd?
by Azrael.N
Summary: School AU: What if Jack wasn't a psychotic biotic but instead she was a geek. A quiet, reclusive and shy teenager who suddenly gets asked out by Sean Shepard. Miranda and Sam have to coach her about how to talk to him without making a fool of herself but Jack's nerdiness make it harder than they initially thought. Jack/Sean Miri/Kaidan. T-for language. Please review.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer- All Characters involved belong to Bioware and EA**

**This is a story I just thought up randomly. I wanted to show what a nerdy Jack would be like. This Jack is completely different from the one in Mass Effect. She's shy, quiet and introverted. She's also good friends with Miranda. This whole thing is about how she reacts to being asked on a date by Shepard. ENJOY!**

He was 17 years old and the king of the school, Mr Perfect in just about every way imaginable. He's strong, atehletic, charismatic, charming, good looking etc. Sean Shepard was good at just about anything he chose to do and he knew it. It also caused a lot of people to worship him in some form or another. Men wanted to be him and women wanted to be with him.

The register had just been taken and now Samara allowed the students to talk. Immediately Shepard was swarmed by an army of females of many races. Turian, Asari, human and Quarian each surrounded him with the same lustful look in their eyes. The fuss they caused over him was quite audible and to many it was rather annoying. But eventually, all grew accustomed to the noise since they all realised it was unavoidable.

Sean never made any attempt to dismiss the women; in fact he embraced their cheers and adoration with open arms. He had a selection to choose from, whether it was for a date, to be his girlfriend or simply sex. He was set, all he had to do was ask and they were putty in his hands. He also set some of his friends up with the girls but after a while Garrus, Kaidan, James, Jacob and Grunt gained some semblance of his status. Steve was the only one who didn't care.

The women who surrounded him were considered to be some of the most beautiful in the school including Liara T'Soni, Gabriella Daniels, Kelly Chambers, Kasumi Goto, Tali Zorah and others including Dahlia and Nassana Dantius. He wore his usual arrogant smirk and made no eye contact with any of them and revelled in the amount of power he was in possession of. They loved him.

That included a certain dark, brown haired girl who looked on from afar. She tossed sly looks in his direction whilst attempting to read her book. She adjusted her glasses and brushed a stray bit of her ponytail aside. Her hair was slightly unkempt and was pushed back at her right ear by her amp. She licked at the warm metal that comprised her braces

Jack had a bunch of data pads laying in front of her just waiting to be read. Including the new Blasto and Hulk comic, the new Justice League comic, Conrad Verner: Dark Energy Theorem, Justicar Weekly and the Citadel News net update. But no matter how hard she tried to focus on her 'fun' reading she couldn't help but take a peep at him.

She just wished that her eyes would meet his beautiful brown ones and that they'd instantly just share the connection. But every time she tried some girls ass or back was in the way.

He was in almost all of her classes: chemistry, biology, physics, maths, ICT, Art, History, English Lit and Language. They were even in the same PE class but they never had an actual conversation. The only class they didn't share was weapons tech. She was invisible to him and it unnerved her to no end.

Jack's thoughts were interrupted by someone's bag landing on her desk causing her to put her hand over her mouth and yelp. She looked up at who did it.

"Sam I told you to stop doing that"

Samantha Traynor stood over her best friend with a grin. _I love that I can still make her jump _"Sorry it was the only way to get your attention"

"How about 'Hey Jack how is it going'"

"And deny myself the pleasure of seeing you jump like that"

"You are a vindictive shrew you know that" Jack stated

"'Shrew?'. Jack dear you do realise that it isn't 17th Century England"

"Sam, I was enjoying my fun reading"

"Really… what are you reading?"

"Conrad Verners dissertation on dark energy and Blasto the new issue"

"I've read that, it's really interesting, his ideas on the mass effect and how it could be used to create mass relays is really cool. And you should get to the part where he reaches the Shroud Facility"

"Hey I am going to get to that. Do not ruin it for me"

Sam stuck her tongue out before letting Jack return to her reading. But Sam just couldn't resist teasing her "Sean is so hot isn't he" she whispered into her ear.

Jack almost dropped the datapad on the floor in shock "Sam I am trying to read here"

"By all means continue your 'fun' I'm just thinking out loud"

Jack blushed furiously and used one of the books before her to hide it. "I-I—I had n-not n-noticed"

"Really, because I could have sworn that you were ogling him" Traynor uttered

_She is so evil. _"I was looking at something else" Jack lied

"Oh something else she says. You were just admiring Tali's hips or Liara's ass then? Because I know I was" Sam interrogated.

"I was not even looking at him" Jack defended

"So you haven't noticed his sexy black, skin tight tank top he's wearing"

"It is white"

"I thought you weren't looking" _I've got her now_

Realising that she had just talked herself into a corner she opened her book and hid behind it. Behind it was a scarlet faced teenage girl embarrassed by her best friend. They were approached by another girl. She wore a grey Adidas tracksuit with pink stripes. In her hand was a Nike sports bag which she dropped on the ground. It opened slightly, revealing a pair of pom-poms

"Miranda" Sam cheered. But the Australian born human focused on her best friend who was hiding behind her book

"Sam what did you do this time?"

"I didn't do anything. I caught her staring at Sean and she's embarrassed" Traynor cooed the last part

"I am not… I'm just struggling to read so I need a closer look"

"Isn't that what your glasses are for Jack" Sam countered

"Sam leave her alone. And trust me Jack. I've hung out with his lot. You're not missing much" Miranda assured

_Of course you have hung out with them. You are so beautiful and sexy, why would they not let you join. Me, I am flat as a board, my butt has no shape. My face is too bony, lips too big and I am punk wannabe. It's my fault for listening to my mom and letting her give me that makeover_

"Besides Sean is a self-entitled asshole. You deserve better than someone like him" Miranda said patting Jack on the back.

Her attraction to him was something her friends didn't totally understand. Sure to them it may have been the case of the geek girl worshipping the jock. But to her it was so much more. _I have watched him, a lot of the time he has that arrogant look on his face. But I have seen the cracks in the façade. He looks unhappy, bored maybe even disinterested. He does not want to be there._

"Come on Sam give him more credit than that" Miri defended

"Really! The one time that I voluntarily spoke to him he walked away when I said I only dated girls."

"To be honest most guys are like that"

"Was Kaidan?" Traynor inquired

Miranda didn't blush like her best friend. She never did that sort of thing; she was always in control of her emotions. But the fact that Traynor knew about Kaidan was a shock to her. She merely cocked an eyebrow

"Did he inform you of this?"

"No, I just saw you glaring daggers at Gabby when she flirted with him. For someone who's so in control of themselves; you sure are jealous"

Miranda scowled at the fact she was betrayed by her own emotion "What Kaidan and I do is none of your concern. Besides do you really think Gabby could compete with me" Miranda defended before growling about letting her feelings get the better of her.

"Wow! All I said was that I know about you and Kaidan and you do that"

"Let's drop the issue" Miranda huffed

"Don't have a hissy fit over this. You're prettier when you smile" Sam teased "And for your information was that SHE flirted with him. Not the other way around"

Jack chanced a glance at Sean's table and was surprised to see that he was looking their direction. _He is probably looking at the cheerleader. _She tried to focus on her reading but his stare kept on breaking her concentration.

The wall of asses had now moved and he was no longer obstructed from their view. Jack, for what she thought was a quick second looked Sean in the eye. He smirked and winked at her.

She nosedived into her datapads in order to hide the stain of her cheeks. _No way! Was that directed at me? Quick I have to do something cool… should I throw up a piece sign or say something hip… oh god I just used the word hip._

"What's with the blush… did he do something?" Sam guessed

"He winked at her. He obviously likes what he sees" Miranda observed

"Quick guys what am I supposed to do. I have his interest I do not want to lose it" Jack almost begged. She began her nervous habit of chewing her hair.

Miranda and Samantha looked to each other before laughing. "Firstly relax and take that hair out of your mouth." Sam reached for her ponytail and gently tugged it from her teeth "He may be a man whore but he isn't a child. He thinks you're pretty. That should hold him for a few days"

Miranda cleared her throat "What our physically challenged friend is trying to say" she jabbed causing Sam to punch her arm "Is that he probably wants to talk to you and will likely try to do so soon"

Jack stared at the two of them with her jaw on the floor. Her mouth was open and she was struggling to find any words. _What am I going to do. I will probably end up hyperventilating or have an asthma attack or something along those lines. Please tell me my mom packed my inhaler with me._

"Jack dear at some point you're going to have to make a choice. I say you just sleep with him and get it over with. I mean if what some of the girls that he and I have been with say is any indication then he's a very good…"

Jack put her hands in her ear and starts saying LALALA. This caused Sam to raise her voice and Jack did also. Sam then tried to remove her hands from her ears. Miranda merely sat with her eyes closed and her fingers rubbing the bridge of her knows

"I can't believe that these two are my closest friends."

The three of them heard someone clear their throat. Jack and Samantha too busy struggling to notice that he was directly behind them. He tapped Jack's shoulder and she slowly turned.

Her mouth hung open like a drawbridge as she sat in front of her crush. "Hi" he greeted

"Sean what's going on?" Lawson wondered

"Did your whore squad finally find something better to do?" Traynor snapped

Shepard looked toward the Brit and scowled "What's your problem with me Traynor. Angry that I took your last girlfriend"

Before Sam could insult Sean again Miranda interrupted. "Why are you here? Did you want to talk?"

Sean turned his glare away from Samantha and returned his focus to Miranda. "Actually I came to talk to… Jennifer"

"Her name is Jack" Sam corrected not hiding the annoyance in her voice

"Sorry… it's just that your name's never came up before"

All Jack could do was being dumbstruck at the fact that he was even considering speaking to her. "The bells is about to ring and I have weapons tech next. I wanted to see if you wanted to have lunch today"

Jack's expression never changed once and she continued to stare. Not wanting her friend's opportunity wasted Miranda decided to step in "She'd love to". Jack nodded in agreement after shutting her mouth.

"Cool so what have you got now? I'll meet you outside your class"

Jack suddenly found her voice but she sounded too forceful and eager "I have a free period. I will be in the common room". Her tone caused Sean to cock an eyebrow. A few snickers could be heard coming from his entourage.

_Great now h_e _probably thinks I'm some crazy loser. Wait a minute I am a loser._

* * *

~o~o~o~o~o~

_I cannot believe that Sean Shepard actually asked me out. Ok he did not actually ask me out. It is the closest thing to a date I have ever had. I know that I am a geek. I have never had sex, a boyfriend or even kissed anyone. Yeah Sam will even admit to being a nerd she can at least get a girl. Besides Sam is gorgeous whereas I am so plain. To make things worse he will probably ask me for help in class since I am the class nerd just about everywhere I go._

"Jack, snap out of it. Sean will be back here in 3 hours and we need to get you prepped" Traynor urged

"Yeah we'll probably only get one shot at this" Miranda added

"I am not so sure about this… what if I end up embarrassing myself" Jack confessed

Sam had to bite her tongue to prevent her from teasing since she realised how serious this was for Jack. "Look, if you don't do this you'll likely end up regretting it for a long time. This could well be your only chance with him. At least try to talk to him"

"You are right, it is not like we are in any relationship that could potentially be wrecked" Jack admitted

"Our relationship is barely platonic." Jack smiled at Sam who started glaring at her since she was still biting her tongue

"Hopefully it could blossom into something more meaningful and everlasting" Jack smirked towards Samantha. Miranda caught on to what Jack was doing.

"I have not got anything to lose."

"Except for your…" Miranda put her hand over Sam's mouth to prevent her from speaking

"You were goading her on purpose weren't you? She would have pounced on that first comment but she kept her mouth shut."

Jack giggled at Sam. "At that point it was a game. If she gave in she lost and she knew that. And she fell for my trap MWAHAHAHA" she did a fake evil villains laugh

Despite the childish nature of her two friends Miranda found herself laughing. She wasn't normally one for juvenile antics but for those two she made an exception. "I don't even know why we need to give her pointers. If she acts like herself then he has to love her"

Jack blushed at the cheerleader's praise. "With the two of you it is so easy. But with him I… I cannot seem to catch my breath and words escape me"

"Just relax around him and you should be alright" Sam assured.

Sam and Miranda looked to one another and nodded "Jack I know Sean very well. He isn't the relationship kind of guy. He isn't exactly a user. He's always upfront with girls and he's very honest. But he chases what he wants and if he's very forward don't be surprised. But most importantly do not let me press you into doing anything you'd never do" Miri assured.

"You mean like…." Jack began to blush as her train of thought ran away

"Kiss him, screw him, tattoo his name on your body, get piercings, cover your body in tattoos, become a punk etc." Sam listed off. Miranda gave Sam a glare to which she raised her hands defensively

The next half hour was spent trying to get rid of Jacks stutter when Sean was involved. It was like shock therapy. Miranda showed her pictures of Sean topless and she nearly had a heart attack. Once she could look at the picture without a blush and she could verbalise her feelings for him they felt that, that section of preparation was complete.

"OK now that you can talk to him. We need to work on a couple of things" Miranda and Samantha examined her. Jack took her glasses off and wiped them but not before almost dropping them to the ground.

"She's so adorable" Sam cooed "She's so nerdy that its cute. I mean look at her. She has the glasses, the inhaler, inward facing feet and the braces."

She began to look deflated "Is that not what we are trying to fix here."

An idea popped into Miranda's head "Actually no it isn't. You can use that to your advantage. I think part of the reason he wants to know you is because you're different. From the others and we can use that to our advantage. He's used to girls falling all over him and throwing themselves at him and in all honesty acting stupid in order to appease him"

"Are you sure about the acting part. I've heard what they say and part of me thinks they are genuinely that stupid" Sam interjected

"No it's an act. Kelly Chambers is one of the smartest people my age I've ever spoken to. I've never understood her need to play dumb… But we're getting side tracked. The bottom line is that your… 'quirkiness' could be used to your advantage"

"So I should act like a total nerd?"

"Who said you'd be acting" Jack gave Traynor a glare "What? Jack you are a nerd. Just be yourself. You shouldn't have to act around this guy. If he doesn't like you for you then he isn't worth your time" Sam stated. _This guy had better treat her right!_

They spent the next half hour trying to convince her to use more contractions and speak in a less formal manner. There were some cringe worthy moments when Jack attempted to use slang. Sam and Miranda couldn't believe what they were hearing. Sam also tried to get Jack to start cursing more. Something which Jack fought fervently. All that was left was to fix up her appearance.

"Are you sure about this? I am pretty sure that makeup will not make me look any better"

"Jack we aren't going to smother you with it. You're already very pretty so we won't even need to apply much."

"If you think it will help. But no foundation, I am allergic to the pigment inside it"

"The last thing we need to do is run a brush threw your hair and we'll be done"

~o~o~o~o~o~

"I am telling you Sam. Blasto could not possibly have survived the explosion when the Catalyst blew everything up. Having him alive afterward just doesn't make sense" Jack argued

"If you want to pick apart what doesn't make sense then let's go. How did he survive laser beam that destroyed his convoy. And how did he say goodbye to his squad without Harbinger ripping them in half." Sam countered

"Those are just some of the problems but what I am saying is that Blasto 3 Part 6: Assault on Kahje was way worse than any other Blasto movie"

"Are you forgetting Blasto 2 Part 6. The one where he breaks into the vault on Bekenstein. The one where he recruits the engineer on Haelstrom"

"That was much earlier in the movies development of course they were going to have budget restrictions about what they could do. But Assault on Kajhe had the biggest budget and it still sucked"

In the midst of their heated argument they completely failed to realise that someone was there. That was until he cleared his throat.

Jack was wearing a hoodie so he couldn't see her face properly but he could still tell it was her. "So Traynor is your cute friend around?" Sean asked

Jack was giddy on the inside _He thinks I am cute! I better not screw this up… I am right here… I should probably say it out loud instead of in my head._

"I am right hee-re" she tripped over her feet as she stood up and landed on the floor beside Sean. She raised a hand in the air "I'm okay, I'm okay". She drew quite a bit of attention to herself. The students at adjacent tables laughed at her clumsiness. _Great, now he thinks that I am a loser._

Sam face palmed and shook her head. Despite herself she still found herself smiling. _She's too cute. Judging from the smile on Shepard's face then he's thinking the same thing_

He grabbed her hand and began pulling her up. Her hoodie fell from her head revealing her face to Sean. He was shocked at how she looked. She still had that same pale complexion but her blemishes were covered up. She had her eyebrows drawn to suit the slits that were cut into them. Her hair was styled so that it had a side fringe but it was still tucked behind her ear revealing her amp. She had blood red lipstick on her pouty lips.

She stared at Sean with some confusion. _Why is he staring at me like that?_

"Don't the two of you have a lunch date? In case you haven't noticed you have a time limit"

"Oh yeah that's right. We should really head towards the spot" Shepard snapped out of his trance. He grabbed Jack's hand and guided her.

~o~o~o~o~o~

**What Jack and Sean didn't know was the Miranda and Samantha had put a listening bug in Jack's bag. They were following them from a distance.**

~o~o~o~o~o~

Fighting the stutter that threatened to ruin her chances Jack asked "S-So where are you taking me?"

"There's this fountain just outside the Central Building. I thought it would be a good place for us to hang out"

The rest of the walk there was in complete silence. It was due to nerves on Jack's side since she had no idea what to talk about whereas Sean just didn't want to.

They reached the fountain and Sean sat down at the bench. Jack was fidgeting with her fingers and spent a lot of time staring at her shoes. _And now we are completely alone. No one here to interrupt us… What if he's expecting us to have sex? No way I'm doing that with him yet… did I just say yet? Oh God_

**Miranda- Good they've finally reached the fountain. Sam I think we should blend in with the crowd**

**Samantha- Miri you're being overprotective. Jack will be fine**

**M- This is literally her first date. I want to be here in case something bad happens.**

**S- Sean may be an ass but I doubt that he'll try anything on her.**

**M- Sean won't press too far. What I'm worried about is his groupies getting involved. I just texted Tali asking where Sean was. He told them that he was in the gym with Kaidan and Garrus **

**S- I'll bet they won't be happy with Jack for stealing their man**

**M- That's why I'm going to be here**

Meanwhile off in the distance Sean and Jack were sitting by the fountain. Jack was still staring at her shoes

"You know this might go better if you actually look me in the eyes" Sean smirked. Jack slowly faced him and smiled sheepishly

"You look really good you know that" he smirked.

"Wow… thanks, I was really worried you would think I was a bit unusual"

"Really… why would you think that?" he had a look on his face that said 'go on this should be good'

"Um… well" Jack began fidgeting a lot more. "The weather… is it not… um… warm" she tried to change the subject

"I guess" Sean gave her a questioning look

They sat in an uncomfortable silence waiting for someone to say something. _I need to say something or else he will get bored! Come on brain remember what Sam said, avoid the nerdy stuff like Blasto, Dark Energy, Marvell, DC, video games, anime, star wars…. Oh my god what are we going to talk about._

"Are you okay over there? You look like you're about to have a panic attack" he teased

Jack laughed nervously. "No, no I am fine… I am just a little nervous"

"Do you always do that… you know speak in full sentences"

"Yeah"

"And yet you still use informal language"

"A lot of the time yes" Jack responded very quickly. _Remember what Samantha told me. Try and use more slang. I mean it's not that hard. Just use words like mofo, coolio, phat and trippin'._

Just as Jack was about to speak Sean butted in "Good then you're not like Tali. She tries to use slang but it doesn't sound right. I prefer it when she talks normally"

**S- This is bad, he's talking about other girls. He's losing interest.**

**M- I know what to do. **

Miranda took out her omni-tool. _Please tell me that you never changed your ringtone._

Jack's omni-tool began to ring. She had put it in her bag so she had to reach inside to try and answer. Whilst she was searching Sean began nodding along to the song.

"And they high off Shakespeare lines." Sean sang along with near perfect pitch.

"There's enough to pass around you don't gotta wait in line.  
And the clocks don't work, you don't gotta check the time"

Whilst she searched Jack found herself singing as well "And the blinds don't work you don't gotta check the skies. We'll be going all night, til light" Jack didn't find her omni-tool in time. The song was finished but they continued to sing

"I've got a test for you.  
You say you want my heart  
Well baby you can have it all  
There's just something that I need from you  
Is to meet my boys  
I've got a lot of boys  
And we can make you right  
And if you get too high  
Baby come over here and ride it out, ride it out"

Sean looked at Jack with great surprise. "Damn I never pegged you as a Weeknd fan"

"Initiation is one of my favourite songs" Jack responded

"I never thought that I'd meet someone who wasn't strictly into club music crap"

The only person I know who isn't into that sort of thing is Miranda but she mainly listens to classical music and that puts me to sleep"

**M- Lying twat told me that he loved Bach**

**S- Here's a tip Miri. If a guy tells you specifically he loves classical music. Then he's lying and trying to sleep with you**

"Yeah I love the Weeknd." Jack said rather dreamily. Sean rolled his eyes but still wore a comforting smile

"Let me guess you love how he looks"

"No I love his voice. It's just so… soothing, intoxicating and… sexy" she sighed out of admiration.

"Wow Jack I really never expected this side of you. I asked Miranda about you but she always told me to ask you"

"Really! You've asked about me"

**S- Way to sound like a fan girl Jack**

"Yeah, I found you interesting. You were always sort of isolated, shy and weird"

_So his interest in me was simply because I'm a freak. Of course he wasn't genuinely interested. He just wanted a front row seat to the freak show. _

"But the main reason that I came to talk to you was that I thought that it's a shame that such a very beautiful woman like you doesn't have a man in her life" Sean smirked

**S- Nice way to make a girl feel special**

**M- I think I'm going to be sick**

**S- Green with envy is such a terrible colour on you Miranda**

**M- More like green with sickness**

"Oh" was all Jack could utter "Um… t-thank you"

"You're welcome"

"So you listen to the Weeknd. He isn't that popular nowadays. Then again his music is from 200 years ago. I didn't think I'd meet another person who liked his music"

"Sam's into that sort of thing as well"

"Sam Traynor?"

"Yeah she was the one who introduced us"

"Us?"

"Yeah, Abel and I… duh" Jack smiled. _Her smile is gorgeous. Is she wearing braces?_

"Of course how could I be so dense" Sean joked

"What are your favourite songs?" Jack asked

"Let me see… I'm going with… Loft Music… Birds Part I and II… and Same Old Song" Sean said

"I am going to have to go with… Initiation, Or Nah, Twenty Eight and Wicked Games"

"Nice! But Or Nah really, the only reason I know about that song is because of how explicit the song is. I couldn't believe that someone could be that direct about that sort of thing in their lyrics. It's the main reason it's on my playlist"

"Playlist for what?"

"You know…"

"No I really do not" Jack answered rather innocently

**S- She cannot possibly be this innocent**

**M- It's Jack, anything's possible with her**

"Sex… it's on my sex playlist"

Jack's eyes shot open and her entire face was covered in a scarlet red blush. "Oh… I-I-I d-did not know you c-could um" she gulped "… make a playlists for…. that" she staggered over her words

"Yeah you can"

"That is… umm" Jack furrowed her brows together and in doing so she also made her eyes look bigger.

"What's the matter are you…" Sean began but soon found his words failing. Her mouth was slightly agape and she put her finger over her bottom lip. She looked him in the eye with a longing gaze. The light coming from the artificial lights made her eyes shinier and lighter.

_Damn she looks so damn beautiful right now. Is she playing me? Nah I doubt that she has it in her but I'll be damned if it isn't working._

Jack remained where she sat, confused about what was going on. "I'm sorry it's just that look on your face. You looked really… cute" Sean whispered the last part so she couldn't hear. _She was meant to be the one who was fawning all over me and becoming speechless. _

They proceeded to spend the next 30 minutes talking about music. They had a lot in common in terms of music with the two of them preferring R&amp;B and Soul. _I might have had this girl wrong. I'm actually starting to have fun on this date_

**S- Lunch is almost over and there's still no sign of his groupies**

**M- Let's hope that nothing happens in the next two minutes**

The bell rang and it brought the two of them back to reality. _I don't want this to be over. I'm finally talking to Sean and this could be my only chance to even hang out with him._

"Looks like our time's up. Too bad, it's been fun" Sean said as he packed his bags up.

"Yeah it really has. I would like to do it again" Jack confessed. Sean pulled her in for a hug one which Jack had gladly accepted.

**S- You see Miri, Jack's had her dream date, no one's messed it up and I've successfully wasted 30 minutes of my life.**

**M- Please! If we hadn't been here you would've spent the entire lunch talking and worrying about how she's doing. And in case you hadn't noticed we gave them something to talk about**

Sean pulled away from Jack and planted a little peck on her cheek.

**S- At least he gave her something to cherish**

As Sean pulled out of the hug Jack got on to her tip toes and planted a small peck on Sean's lips. Although that peck meant nearly nothing to Sean it meant the world to Jack. It was the culmination of years of fantasies and dreams she had, had over the past number of years. She'd thought of what it would be like to kiss him and now she was living one of her dreams.

**M- Looks like she took it more than him giving it**

**S- GO JACK!**

"Sorry… I… just"

"Don't be" Sean smiled. _I wasn't expecting her to do that. That's a couple of times now that this girl has surprised me._

"We really should do this again. How about tomorrow" Shepard suggested

"Yes, I would really like that"

Sean walked away from the scene and it was only then that he realised that his heart was pumping. _That wasn't exactly what I was expecting. Now that I've got it out of my system I think I should get over it._ He licked his lips in order to taste what those soft lips were coloured with. _Strawberry my favourite._

Jack was giddy as a child in a chocolate factory. She was on cloud nine and couldn't even realise that her two best friends were trying to speak to her.

"She's gone Miri"

"Let her enjoy the moment. It's not every day that you have your first kiss"

"Well she had better snap out of it soon. I don't think Dr Solus will be happy if she's like this for the next two hours"

The two of them guided Jack to their class whilst she was blissfully unaware of the strange looks she was getting. She was happy and that was all she cared about.

**OK that's it. I might add another chapter if I feel like it. Hope you enjoyed reading it. REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2

**OK so I'm going to continue the story. But it's only going to be about 5-6 chapters and I can't guarantee that updates will be quick. I want to t****hank ****Livewire1306 for pointing out that Liara's character really shouldn't be dumbed down, she's going to feature more in the later chapters. BTW, every chapter from now on is going to start with lyrics from a Weeknd song, and they're basically summaries for the chapter. ENJOY!**

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

_**Hope you see  
It won't mean a thing to me  
I've been doing this too long  
Baby girl, I've felt it all  
So watch out  
If you try to play your luck  
Ain't nobody gonna care enough  
To catch you fall**_

_**So don't you fall in love**_  
_**Don't make me make you fall in love**_  
_**Don't make me make you fall in love with a nigga like me**_  
_**Nobody needs to fall in love**_  
_**I swear I'm just a bird**_  
_**Girl, I'm just another bird**_  
_**Don't make me make you fall in love with a nigga like me**_  
_**Like Me**_

_**You tried  
You tried to warn me  
But baby, I'm warning you  
Girl, I'll show you  
This is no game  
You'll be falling to the point of no return  
No return**_

_**So don't you fall in love**_  
_**Don't make me make you fall in love**_  
_**Don't make me make you fall in love with a nigga like me**_  
_**Nobody needs to fall in love**_  
_**I swear I'm just a bird**_  
_**Girl, I'm just another bird**_  
_**Don't make me make you fall in love with a nigga like me**_  
_**Like Me**_

**_The Weeknd, The Birds Part I, Thursday/Trilogy_**

_6 months later_

It had been 6 months ever since Sean and Jack had lunch together and things were going well for Jack. She was slowly gaining confidence from all of the attention that Sean was showing her and the compliments he paid her. She had been to his house, met his older sister Layla and even had dinner at his place with him. It was safe to say that they had become closer friends.

Jack however, saw that as the problem. They were still just friends, so Sean was still going around with other girls and taking them places. They had actually seen him on a date with Giana Parassini whilst Jack was at Miranda's house with Samantha Traynor.

"Hey Miranda, I'm hungry. What are you giving me," Sam demanded.

"Nothing if you keep that up," the cheerleader retorted.

"But if I don't get something to eat I'll shrivel up and become dust."

"Stop being melodramatic Sam, you'll get your food soon. And it's your fault you're hungry, we stopped by that convenience store on the way where you could've bought snacks," Jack pointed.

"I forgot my chit at home and Miranda wouldn't sponsor me," Traynor pouted

"Because that was only 10 minutes ago and I knew we'd be eating soon," Miranda groaned. "If you're done complaining about being hungry you can help, maybe then you'll get your food quicker."

"Come on Sam let's help out," Jack offered

Miranda actually waved Jack away before asking "Actually Jack can you go get Oriana and tell her dinner is almost ready?"

"Sure thing," Jack responded. Jack strolled up the stairs to Oriana's room and opened it to find her on her computer. Oriana had headphones on so she couldn't hear Jack come in, so Jack had to take this opportunity to sneak up on the youngest Lawson. Oriana was only two years younger than Miranda so they shared the same interests. However, Oriana was more accommodating than Miranda.

They had lived alone the two of them ever since their father Henry was arrested by C-Sec for domestic abuse by Jack and Samantha. They'd known that Henry would verbally abuse Miranda and Oriana, but when Miranda showed up with Oriana at Jack's house with a black eye and Oriana was in tears; her friends had, had enough. They had to move from the Presidium to the Wards since this was the only place the Council benefits could allow them to live comfortably.

Jack got in real close with Oriana before saying "Whatcha reading?" in a childish tone.

Oriana jumped at the sound of Jack's voice and fell off of her bed "Quit giggling Jack. I could have seriously hurt myself," Oriana moaned

"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. You just seemed so invested in… Sean Shepard's SpaceBook profile," Jack read from Oriana's screen.

She was going through his pictures as I've done in the past and gawking at him. There were pictures of him at the beach on earth, coming out of the water topless, chilling with Liara at Purgatory, at a party with James, Garrus, Kaidan and Grunt…. That was timestamped recently.

Oriana's face lit up with delight when she spoke of Sean "He's this guy I saw at James Vega's party. I can't believe I'd never heard of him before 3 days ago. He's so cute! And he's only 2 years older than me."

She flicked through and settled on a video of Kelly grinding on him, and Gabby sticking her tongue down his throat, whilst he grabbed her ass. Those ones cut Jack deep.

Jack's expression remained the same in spite of her stomach being in knots "Are you interested in him?"

"Sorta, I mean if he asked me out then I'd say yes without question. But I'd have no chance with him if I went after him. At the party he was always talking and dancing with other older girls. He spent a lot of time with Liara T'Soni."

"Did he now… your sister said come down for dinner," Jack informed before storming out of the room. _How come he never told me about James's party? I asked what he was doing last weekend and he said nothing. He had no reason to lie to me so why did he do just that?_

They all sat down and ate the pasta which Miranda had prepared, during dinner Miranda, Sam and Oriana all chatted animatedly about their school lives and their favourite foods. However, Jack was far quieter than she had been in recent months and her two best friends picked up on it. The moment Oriana was gone from the room they confronted Jack.

"So he didn't tell you about a party. Big Whoop!" Samantha scoffed.

"I do not know. It just bothers me that he'd keep it from me" Jack retorted

"James was planning that party for months and there was a lot of hype surrounding it," Miranda explained.

"So there's no way he could have forgotten about it. That means he was lying to me. Did he not want me to come along or something?" Jack wondered

"Jack, we all know that you're not a party girl. So you really shouldn't care if he told you or not," Traynor reiterated her previous point.

"Don't you get it Sam? He lied to her" Miranda stated.

"But they're not in a relationship. He doesn't have to tell her about any party that he goes to."

_It was true that we weren't dating. But ignoring the fact that I want to change that situation. I don't like being lied to; not by my friends, my mom or even illusionists. I want to be told the truth every time, even if it hurts me. Which is why I love Sam. She's always upfront with me about how she feels._

"Sam we both know Jack hates being lied to," Miranda reminded.

"It's not just the fact that he lied to me. It's this" Jack continued before showing them the pictures and videos on his space book. Sam began shaking her head in disgust. _Seriously Shepard, if you're going to do stupid shit, don't post in on your SpaceBook for the galaxy to see. Wow it's got 24000 likes._

"Ooh- he fucked up there," Samantha cringed. _Jack you already know I have no faith in that boy. I understand that you can't control your feelings but as I've told you before. Sean is just a bird. Don't fall in love with someone like him._

"But like, Sam said, Jack. You and Sean are just friends. You can't really be angry with him for this," Miranda reasoned.

"I'm not angry… I sorta accepted the fact that lots of girls are going to go for him. But it still hurts to see things like that," Jack admitted. She tried to hide how much pain she really felt but failed. Samantha and Miranda sat at their seats awkwardly, totally unsure as to what to do.

Miranda was hurting for her friend. _Jack I remember when we first met when we were 13. I was so cold, distant and downright evil to you. There was little reason other than taking out my frustration about my situation with my father at you. I made you my punching bag even though you didn't deserve it, and I knew I was wrong to do so but I just didn't care. _

_Then after a year of abuse you had the opportunity to get your revenge. You saw me in school crying, repeating to myself that I was worth a damn and that I wasn't useless, you saw the bruises on my arms from when my father grabbed me. You could have torn into me or even told the school about the almighty Ice Queen's breakdown. But instead you chose to stay and you let me vent about my father and yo never told anyone about it either and I'll always be grateful for your support. _

_That's the type of person you are Jack, you're a loving, caring albeit quiet, nerdy girl who couldn't harm or take advantage of anyone. Thanks to you I was able to realise that I was actually worth a damn. You and Sam helped build up my confidence into something real, rather than a façade I had to show to prevent the truth from surfacing. Jack, you even gave me the courage to finally break free of my father's clutches. You helped me realise that just because he was my father didn't mean he was my only option and that I was only hurting myself and Oriana by staying. That's why I need to prevent you from hurting yourself anymore with this Sean situation._

"Jack, why don't you clear things up with him?" Miranda suggested "You can't carry on like this. Tell him how you feel and see if he wants to continue what he's doing with other girls. If he does, then just stop hanging out with him. It's slowly killing you and I can't stand seeing you like this."

"She's right. The sooner you get this done, the sooner you ask the sooner you can move on," Sam added.

Jack looked at her two best friends. _But what if he says it's not going anywhere. Then the fantasy is over, that means all of the progress I'd made would have been for nothing. Then again if he doesn't see it going anywhere that means I didn't really make much progress to begin with. In addition, Miranda and Sam are right. Seeing those pictures was like a dagger going through my stomach. _

"I'll go to his house right now," Jack declared.

"Why not just call him?" Sam wondered

Jack only said "I want to see if he'll lie to my face again."

~o~o~o~o~o~

Jack decided not to call Sean to tell him she was coming over. She just needed to see him and she didn't want him to make any excuses for her not to come over. If he wasn't there then his sister could point her in the right direction. Sean lived in the Wards near Flux so it was on the other side of the Wards where Miranda lived; so it wouldn't take her long to get there.

When she arrived at the apartment complex, a lump formed in Jack's throat. _Okay, here goes nothing._

She rang the buzzer for his apartment. "Hello, who's this?" a female voice answered.

"Hi Layla, it's Jack. Is Sean at home?" Jack asked politely.

"Hey Jack, yeah he's in his room. I'll meet you at the entrance," the older Shepard offered.

_At least he's in. the good thing is that my feelings can be resolved today. Or it could end up really sucking for me._

Layla opened the door with a smile as she greeted Jack. "Hi Jack, Sean never told me you were coming over."

"I-I was just in the neighbourhood and… I thought I'd pop by," she lied. Rather horribly to add to it.

"Uh-huh," Layla nodded sceptically. _Wow she's a bad liar._

Layla and Jack started walking back to the apartment in a comfortable silence "Is there any reason you're wearing a hoodie on a station with no rain, Joker?" Shepard giggled.

"Oh this," Jack said. She was wearing a slightly overgrown Joker hoodie with the zipper open revealing a plain black tank top and shorts. She wore the hood over her head; which concealed her glasses "Sean said I make an easy mark in this sort of area so I should try and took tough." Jack explained

"So a skinny, white girl in a Joker hoodie and glasses is going to intimidate people," Layla smirked.

"The Joker is scary," Jack defended.

"Not when he chews on his ponytail whenever he gets scared" Shepard giggled again.

"Now that you point that out, I should probably only come here with company shouldn't I?"

"Yeah, that's a reason Sean always picks you up."

By the time their conversation had ended they had reached the Shepard apartment. Since their parents were both Alliance Marines they weren't around all of the time. So Sean had to move in with his 23 year old sister Layla, who worked as a C-Sec officer. She also lived with her boyfriend of 2 years and co-worker Thane; as a result they lived in a fairly large 2 bedroom apartment.

"He's in his room," Layla said before smiling mischievously

Jack made her way towards his door, but it was locked. She knocked on the door but there was still no answer. When she turned so she could ask Layla where he was but only walked straight into him.

"Jack? What are you doing here?"

"Sean" she yelped upon seeing him and her eyes bulged open. She gulped and found herself checking him out. "I-I… Layla never said you were… um… in the showering" was all Jack could manage before her words failed her.

"In the showering…" Shepard chuckled

"Y-yeah" she smiled dreamily. _Maybe coming over here to surprise him is the best decision I've made in a long time._

"Hey!" Sean snapped "My eyes are up here. I don't appreciate being ogled like that," he joked.

Jack immediately placed a hand over her eyes. "I'm so sorry Sean. I didn-"

Sean interrupted her by saying "Jesus, Jack. I'm kidding," he then walked into his room to put on something other than a towel.

"I'm decent," he hollered. Jack walked into his room tentatively, in case he may have been joking again. To her supposed 'relief' he was wearing a pair of shorts and a plain t-shirt.

"What brings you here?" he inquired.

"I was just in the neighbourhood-"

"Lying really isn't your strong suit, you know that." He smirked.

_I'm not ready to talk about it yet. You can't just lead in with I want to talk about my feelings. Talk about something… anything_ "So how was your date with Giana?"

His smile immediately faded. "It went pretty good" he stated, but the way he said it made it sound like there was more to the story.

"But-" Jack encouraged.

"I couldn't really be bothered to have sex with her. She got pissed off and left." He explained the situation.

"**You** turned down sex. What's next, a Krogan bellowing poetry in the Wards, ducks raining down on the Citadel." Jack joked.

"Yeah, yeah, very funny. Let's all laugh at Sean" he groaned

"Don't get upset, Sean. I still like you" she smiled

"What was it you came here for again?" he questioned, clearly unhappy at the direction which the conversation was heading.

"I wanted to talk to you about something… but it seems a lot harder now that you're here."

"What's wrong, you look worried," Sean's eyebrows furrowed with concern.

_Stop being such a chicken about this Jack. Miranda's right, the more you prolong this talk the worse off you'll be. Seeing Sean with other girls, whilst thinking you have a shot with him, is just hurting you._

"What do I mean to you?" Jack asked

"I'm sorry what?" Sean panicked

_Here goes nothing _"What am I to you?"

Sean looked her deep in the eye and gulped. _Not now, Jack please._ "What brought this on?"

"I saw the pictures of you at James' party."

"Now Jack-"

"I'm not angry about you going, but why did you have to lie to me about it? You know what, I really don't want to know. I just want to know what I am to you."

"Not now Jack," Sean ordered whilst he headed towards the door. _We're good right now, please don't let your feelings fuck it up._

Jack's face contorted with surprise, as well as the shock at his dismissal, a surge of anger and hurt began to surface. Then, with uncharacteristic confidence she stomped after Shepard "Maybe this will I get you to answer. I really like you" Jack declared.

Sean stopped and stood stiff in the middle of the corridor. _Dammit Jack._

Unknown to either of the two, there were two people listening in from their room were Thane and Layla. Layla had her ear to the wall whilst Thane sat on the bed calmly.

**Layla- I knew she showed up here for a reason.**

**Thane- After constantly reprimanding your brother for eavesdropping , you do it yourself.**

**L- Oh get off your high horse; I know you want to listen too.**

**T-Which is why I'm turning the camera in the corridor on.**

**L-I knew there was a reason I loved you.**

"Jack-"

"No!" she interrupted. Sean was shocked at her forwardness, this wasn't the same shy Jack he had grown to know. "Let me finish. I really like you Shepard. You've known how I feel about you since before we started hanging out."

The look he gave her gave away nothing. "And hanging out with you just makes me like you even more than I already did. At first I didn't really mind that you were always out with a different girl every day. But I realise now that I was kidding myself."

"Jack please don't-"

"It was hurting me to the point where I was crying" Jack interrupted, determined to finish her argument. "And then there was you not telling me about James' party."

"I'm sorry about that. I should have told you"

"It's not that you went and didn't tell me. It's the fact that you felt that you had to lie to me about it. It's like I'm your quasi-girlfriend who you're trying to cheat on. And that shouldn't be the case. It's not fair to either of us."

"So what do you want?" Shepard inquired.

"I just want to know whether or not I have a shot with you. Because… I just want to know if I'm wasting my time waiting for you"

**L- Don't be a moron little brother.**

"I'm sorry Jack… but I just… you're one of my closest friends… and that's how I feel." He declared.

_Wow… I probably should have been more prepared to hear that. _She felt strangely numb after hearing the news. There was no whirlwind of emotion, nor was there any despair. Just numbness.

"Ok" she responded. "I guess I always knew on some level."

"Jack I'm-"

"It's alright Sean… I think I'll let myself out." Jack announced before putting her Joker hoody back over her head and heading.

"You can't be alone out there in this part of the Wards" Sean called out. "I'm coming with you"

On queue Thane walked out of his room and offered to walk with Jack to Miranda's house. That left Sean leaning against the wall with his hands over his head. Layla stood in front of him, before punching him in the arm.

"Very stupid, Sean. We both know that you like her"

"Stop eavesdropping Layla, you get pissed off at me when I do it."

"Don't change the subject. What are you going to do if she gets another guy"

"No disrespect to Jack. But there's no way that's happening"

"Since when do you care about disrespecting your 'drones'"

"Jack is not a drone" he asserted with conviction.

The tone of his voice wasn't lost on his sister, so in an effort to retain his façade he continued to speak "I don't disrespect Liara"

"That's because she's too smart for that crap. And you're smart enough not to piss her off"

"Just leave this alone, Layla."

"You're going to regret that Sean" Layla warned as she re-entered her room.

Meanwhile, in Sean's room he was busy punching his wall. _For fucks sake Jack. you shouldn't have pushed me into this. I never meant to actually hurt you. Now everything is so fucking screwed up. _He cursed whilst his onslaught on the wall continued.

~o~o~o~o~o~

_2 days later at school._

Jack sat in her form room, reading more of her Samara the Justicar comic, when she felt a shadow loom over her. When she looked up she saw one of Sean's friends James Vega. She hadn't spoken to Sean ever since the left his house, and to her it looked like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Hey, Jack"

"Hello James, what brings you here?"

"I want to know if you want to go out with me later." He asked with a charming smile.

Jack turned around and both Sam and Miranda had the same puzzled expression as she did.

"Sure… what time and place?"

"How about 5 and you meet me by the Krogan memorial on the Presidium?"

"Sounds perfect" Jack smiled. _What is going on here? Why is he asking me out? Did Sean put him up to this?_

"Awesome, I'll see you then" he confirmed, before planting a quick peck on her lips and departing.

During the encounter, Miranda and Sam looked at Sean's table to see if he witnessed what transpired. They could tell that he did and he was not happy about what James was doing.

Jack turned around and asked her friends and asked. "What just happened?"

**Sorry for the long delay, but better late than never I guess. I hope you liked the update. REVIEW!**


End file.
